Captain Kirk’s William Shatner has finally gone to space.
The 90-year-old Star Trek actor entered the final frontier aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space shuttle this morning, becoming the oldest person in history to do so.
Joining Shatner on the Blue Origin flight were Blue Origin Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations Audrey Power, Medidata Co-Founder Glen de Vries, and former NASA engineer and Planet Labs Co-Founder Chris Boshuizen.
The shuttle took its passengers 62 miles above the Earth’s surface after its launch in Texas this morning, passing the boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, known as the Kármán line. Shatner and company will reportedly experience about four minutes of weightlessness.
Inclement weather and heavy winds delayed the launch that was originally slated for Tuesday, October 12th.
Shatner first graced television screens as Captain James T. Kirk when Star Trek first aired 55 years ago.
The previous oldest-person-to-go-to-space record was held by aviator Wally Funk, who was part of Blue Origin’s previous inaugural expedition that happened back in July, with Bezos and his brother also in attendance. During that flight, a record was also set for the youngest person to go to space by then 18-year-old Oliver Daemon.
In a promotional video, Shatner said going into space would be “life-changing.”
“Not because of the aerial adventure, but because of the people I’m meeting and talking with. … We’re just at the beginning, but how miraculous that beginning is. How extraordinary it is to be part of that beginning. There is this mystique of being in space, that much closer to the stars and being weightless. I shall be entranced by the view of space.”
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Published: Oct 13, 2021 10:33 am